Miami Heat’s Tyler Herro making statements in return

MIAMI — So far, Tyler Herro has made it look easy, being away for six weeks and then picking up where he left off.

In Monday night’s return from the ankle sprain that had him out since Nov. 8, there were 25 points in the home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Then, Wednesday night, in the second game back for the 23-year-old Miami Heat guard there were 28 points, eight rebounds and assists in the road victory over the Orlando Magic.

“To be able to roll with my guys again feels good,” Herro said, with the next step in the return Friday night’s game against the Atlanta Hawks at Kaseya Center.

To coach Erik Spoelstra, the strides during the return began well before again being activated at the start of the week.

“The one thing you can’t discount or underestimate is his work ethic,” Spoelstra said. “So once he was able to start doing stuff on the court, then he starts pushing the envelope and he really starts working.

“He’s relentless with his work. That’s what you really have to appreciate about Tyler. This is not something that just happened with talent. This is a lot of sweat equity behind the scenes.”

While practice has been limited for the Heat amid an unceasing schedule, Spoelstra was able to craft workouts for Herro and center Bam Adebayo ahead of their Monday returns, Herro from his 18-game absence with the ankle, Adebayo from a seven-game absence with a hip contusion.

“I watched the two contact practices to ramp up for that,” Spoelstra said. “Those were very tense for he and Bam. The second day was really good.”

Spoelstra added of Herro, “And the fact that he’s been able to do court work for the last few weeks – two weeks at least – that helps. But this is a lot harder than he’s made it look.”